Merchandise box



J. K. TANAKA MERCHANDISE BOX Filed Dec. 50, 1964 Feb. 14, 1967 United States Patent 3,303,986 MERCHANDISE BOX Joseph K. Tanaka, St. Louis, Mo., assignor to Trimfoot Company, Farmington, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Filed Dec. 30, 1964, Ser. No. 422,319 1 Claim. (Cl. 229-43) The invention relates to boxes, usually of cardboard or paper, for shoes and similar merchandise, and likely to be stacked one above the other or in contiguous rows, or both, on a store shelf or counter.

The main object of the invention is to facilitate the removal of one box from a stack or row without the necessity of prying other boxes out of the way to provide space between them to insert a persons thumb and finger between adjacent boxes so as to grasp the box which is to be removed. Another object is to maintain a close fit between each box and its lid and thereby present a neat appearance and to better exclude dust.

To attain these objects the box, which includes upstanding walls and a lid With a depending peripheral rim, is so constructed that at least one of the box walls is offset inwardly of the box from the corresponding portion of the lid rim to permit the insertion of a persons finger in a recess between the lid rim and the box Wall whereby the box is readily pulled away from the remaining boxes. The preferred construction of the off set wall results in its thrusting the adjacent rwalls against corresponding portions of the rim to effect their engagement.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating a selected embodiment of the invention:

FIG. 1 is a perspective of one form of box including the features referred to.

FIG. 2 is in part a top view of the box with the lid removed and in part a horizontal section through the box and lid on line 2-2 of 'FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a detail vertical section on line 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a blank from which the box body, as illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, may be formed.

The box includes a bottom 1, upright side Walls 2, '3 and end walls 4, 5 extending upwardly from the perimeter of the bottom wall. Applicable to the top edges of the upright walls is a lid '6 having a depending peripheral rim, the sides 7 of which overlap and normally engage the box side walls 2, 3, and the ends 8 of which rim overlap the upper portions of the box end walls 4, 5, but are spaced from one or both of the end walls.

At least one end wall 4 is inclined upwardly and inwardly from the end of the bottom of the box or the upper margin 10 of end wall 4 is otherwise offset inwardly of the box from the vertical lid rim portions 8, thus providing a downwardly opening recess S freely accommodating the insertion of one or more fingers between the upper margin of end wall 4 and the adjacent depending rim 8 on the lid. This enables the box to be pulled readily from the midst of a plurality of boxes fitting closely together, 'whether stacked on a shelf or placed on a counter or table with the offset ends facing upwardly.

Another feature of the box structure which contributes to maintaining the lid in place and tends to prevent distortion of the box walls and to better seal the box against the entry of dust resides in the provision of a resilient bellows-like connection or joint at the corners between the side walls and the end walls of the box as indicated at B (FIG. 2). Such a joint is readily formed, by folding fiaps 15 (FIG. 4), on fold lines 16, 17, so that after the box sides are turned up on fold lines 18, although the major portion of each flap 15 extends transversely of the box from the inclined fold line 17 and overlaps the corresponding portion of the other flap, there are V-shaped doubled fold connections B between flaps 15 and sides 2, 3. The outer end 19 of the intermediate flap forming end wall 4, is folded over the upper edges of folded flaps 15 and secured thereto. The inherent resiliency Of the folded cardboard or paper at B results in the V folds thrusting the box sides outwardly of the box and against the depending rim 7 of the lid.

It will be understood that one or more upright walls of a box may be offset as indicated in the drawings and that the space S and the expansion joint may be provided otherwise than as shown and described; that the novel features described may be provided singly, and other modifications of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

A merchandise box comprising a body with a rectangular bottom and generally upright side and end walls, and a rectangular lid corresponding in length and width to the body bottom and having a shallow depending rim overlying the upper exterior portions only of said box walls, the upper portion only of at least one of said walls being offset inwardly of the box from the corresponding portion of the lid rim to provide a downwardly opening recess between the rim and wall for insertion of a human finger behind the rim.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,150,105 8/1915 Emmons 22931 1,747,980 2/ 1930 Kondolf 229-32 2,421,748 6/1947 Fink 22931 2,598,051 5/1952 Guyer et a1 22952 2,819,008 1/1958 White et al. 22923 GEORGE O. RALST ON, Primary Examiner. 

